A year ago, I was the biggest Starlito fan outside of Nashville. Renaissance Gangster and Living in the Past were the work of a charismatic rhymer whose demeanor jumped between jeering and somber. He rapped with a stoned apathy, reciting the next line purely at his convenience. He was Lil Wayne without the bullshit.
I don’t remember exactly what happened next. Then there was a series of subpar mixtapes leading up to Starlito’s Way 3: Life Insurance in December, which disappointed. I was just about ready to hang up my homemade “#1 Lito Fan” t-shirt when out of nowhere, his tape from last week recaptured some of the magic.
Three tracks on @ WAR w/ myself stand out. “Felt Like Giving Up” is back-against-the-wall trap rap with Lito rapping his heart out, “Like Mike” is a DJ Burn One track about hoop dreams, and “Thinking of You” uses a trapped out version of the same Jackson 5 sample as J Dilla’s “Time: The Donut of the Heart.” Whole tape here, best tracks below.
@MetalLungies I appreciate your insight/short-form review, but I’m curious as to how I almost lost you w/ SW3??
I’m open and receptive to criticism, but I dropped two tapes between the time period when I had you most interested (RG, Livin in the past)…One was a freestyle tape, and the other was “Free @ Last” (a week before SW3)….Honestly, I’ve perceived that people liked “Free @ Last” better than SW3, but the process of selecting the music was the only thing different. It’s weird that the projects you (and perhaps others) like & dislike were recorded simultaneously…I’m responding in an attempt to perfect my craft. I know I have the on/off switch with the raps, depending on inspiration, but I also need to know what people are in tune with.
I appreciate you covering any/all of my material positive/negative, just be thorough and critical. Blogs have become placement tools or almost advertisements. Be bold, be honest. I don’t think you spared any of that with this entry, I just think the projects you chose to highlight were as much about taste/personal preference and less about what I was saying or how I went about it. For instance, “Living in the Past” was an old-school 90’s rap tape done in 2k10…I aged myself, and rapped my ass off. Starlito’s Way 3 had an undertone, that perhaps you would have to listen to SW2 to understand. It’s a fallacy of a series. But I will agree with one thing, “AT WAR WITH MYSELF” is raw. I put it together in 4 days with nothing to lose, and no sense of expectation. No externals, no pressure that I didn’t personally create. If I never do it again, I’m satisfied. The switch was turned on.
-Lito
I think the thing with Lito….he wears his emotions in his music, which is not the case with a lot of these so called artists. I actually call myself the #1 fan outside of Nashville. I think earlier in his career he struggled with providing the music that the industry required to make it to stardom. He is at his best when he does what he does and not try catering to anyone but himself. The guy is actually brillant, and speaks for the the educated 9 to 5’ers and the trappers. Its that balance that makes him special. After SW 1 and 2, I was desperately awaiting SW3 and I felt a little dissappointed as well (I felt Renaissance Gangster should have been released as SW3 and SW’s material should have been the mixtape). I also agree with @WAR gave me that feeling back that he hasn’t lost a step. But it also validates my theory that his music bounces like his life and to me, that’s what makes it real (desirable). Its amazing to me that he is not at the top of the rap food chain, because he “might be better than..shhh”. Favorite releases are Mixtapes Vol 3 & 4 and SW1 & SW2.
SW3 was not wack… during my time listening to lito starting from Hating aint healthy and after going finding his old stuff like vol 1,2,3… he has grown as an artist and we should grow as listener if we gone say we someone number 1 fan… i feel im a big fan of his music… SW2 was the maturity of his work SW3 was a album. it wasn’t trap this and trap that… but some serious shit that yall should have appreciated cuz niggas dont make album hardly without a positive wordplay… mixtape is artist rap with hard punchllines…. RG was the shit and is the shit…. i feel STARLITO music to me is a movie of his life… i can go on and on but smoke a blunt and listen to SW3 before u say it wack.. IF U DONT THINK IM THE TRUTH I THINK UR MENTALLY LIFE-LESS- starlito…. SW3 CLASSIC